A second chance
by BeccaLouise91
Summary: On one sunny afternoon in August, Senior was at the park with his granddaughters when he ran into an old friend. Berlin Rewrite/ Moments universe.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS**

**August 2018**

Anthony DiNozzo Senior sat down on the bench and stretched out his legs, enjoying the glorious August sunshine. A stroller sat next him, with eighteen-month-old Matilda DiNozzo sitting in it, snaking on some gold fish crackers. Senior was babysitting his two granddaughters for the day. Tony and Ziva were in Maryland, photographing a wedding. It was an all-day event, that required two shooters, and so Senior was asked to babysit Tali and Tilly.

Senior had spent the night, as he came on Friday for their weekly family dinner. There, he listened to Tali chatting away about her week at pre-school, her dance class and everything else she did during the week. Ziva had signed Tali up to local ballet classes as soon as Tali confirmed that she was interested. As much as Ziva wanted her girls to have ballet lessons, she was not going to force them to it. Tilly was still too young to go but had started to try and copy Tali who practiced endlessly.

Once Tali had stopped talking and was asleep in bed, Tony ran through with Senior what was going happen on Saturday; the hours they were working, emergency contact numbers just in case. Things like that. Normally, Senior went back to his place after dinner but this time it was easier if he stayed the night.

In the morning after Ziva and Tony had left, Tali and Tilly played in the playroom, nicely. 98% of the time the two girls got on very well. That remaining 2% though, tended to be Tali getting upset with Tilly for ruining the game. Tony and Ziva were constantly reminding Tali that Tilly was only eighteen-months and didn't necessarily understand the rules of the game. Then, just after lunch, the three of them decided to venture out to the local play park. They had their own climbing frame but Senior thought the trip away from home would do the girls some good.

'Watch me climb to the top, Papa' called four-year-old Tali from the bottom of the climbing frame.

'I can see you Tali' he called back. 'Be careful.' Tilly had already gone on the swings for a bit, before wanting to have a snack. Unlike Tali, who crawled at nine months and walked at 13 months, Tilly had only recently started walking. At eighteen months she still preferred to crawl, and Senior didn't think that crawling on the dirty playground floor was a good idea.

'Papa, look' said Tilly, holding up a cracker and making it swim. Senior laughed and ruffled Tilly's brown curls.

'Papa?' Senior looked up and saw a woman standing nearby, a dalmatian by her feet. It took a few seconds for Senior to recognised her.

'Maggie York?'

'Hello Tony.' Senior stood up, not quite believing his eyes. He hadn't seen Maggie York since Labour Day, 1960.

'What are you doing here?' he asked.

'I just moved to the area, from Tokyo.' Senior chuckled slightly. Her voice was exactly the same. 'What about you, Papa?' Senior laughed.

'I'm with my granddaughters.'

'Papa' called Tilly. 'Hun-gee.' She had finished eating her crackers. Senior sat back down.

'I'm sorry, Bug' he said, stroking her brown curls. 'I don't have anything else.' Tilly shrugged her shoulders and went back to playing with Bunny. Appearance wise, Tilly was the spitting image of Tail; a younger version of Ziva, with the DiNozzo smile, laugh and appetite.

'Bug?' asked Maggie, as she sat down next to Senior.

'It's a nickname. When my daughter-in-law, Ziva was pregnant, she and my son didn't find out the sex before the girls were born, so they gave them nicknames. Tilly is Bug and Tali.' Senior scanned the climbing frame and spotted Tali. He pointed over to her. 'Tali is-'

'Bean!' cried Tilly happily, waving her arms in the air.

'Yes, that's right' said Senior to Tilly.

'Bean and Bug?' laughed Maggie. Senior nodded. 'You have a son?' Her voice was more serious now. Senior nodded again.

'Yes, I do. Tony. Anthony Junior.' Senior pulled out his phone and showed the photo on the screen. It was of Tony, Ziva and the girls; Ziva holding Tilly and Tony holding Tali. The photo had been taken at Tali's fourth birthday, just over a month ago.

'You named your son after you? That doesn't sound like the Tony I knew.'

'That was a long time ago, Mags' replied Senior. 'A lot has changed in sixty years.'

'It has been a while since someone called that.' They stared at each other, memories coming back, clearer than ever before. Just then Tali came running over to them. She was wearing a pink t-shirt with a sequin unicorn on it, denim shorts and sandals. Her brown curls pulled into pigtails by Ziva.

'Papa, can we get ice cream?' she asked. An ice cream truck had just driven past.

'No. Sorry, Bean. Ima said you can have ice cream after dinner, not before.'

'But-'

'No buts Tali. I'm following Ima's orders.' Tali looked sad, and tried to quiver her bottom lip.

'That won't work Tali' said Senior, laughing slightly.

'Why not?' asked Tali. It usually worked, especially with Daddy.

'Because I don't want to get told off by Ima.' That definitely did work and Tali surrendered. She didn't like getting told off by Ima either. Maggie's dog came up and sniffed at Tali's hand. Tali loved dogs and started stroking it.

'Tali' began Senior. 'This is my friend, Maggie.'

'Hello Tali' said Maggie.

'Hi. Is he your doggy?' Maggie smiled.

'Yes, she is.' Tali laughed.

'What's her name?'

'Penny.' Penny the Dalmatian started playing with Tali, licking her face. Tali laughed more. 'Do you like dogs, Tali?' asked Maggie. Tali nodded her head vigorously.

'You do, don't you' said Senior. 'Where is Doggy?' he asked, looking around for the stuffed toy.

'Bug's looking after him.' Tilly thrusted Doggy and Bunny outwards over the stroller as to say 'Ta da'. Senior laughed. His granddaughters were so funny sometimes.

Maggie looked at her watch.

'I have to go, I'm afraid' she said quietly. Tali and Penny were having fun playing together.

'No.' Tali had heard though. Keen hearing, just like her Ima.

'Tali,' began Senior. 'Maggie has to go, therefore so does Penny.'

'But'

'No buts Bean.' Senior heard Maggie laugh quietly. 'What?'

'Nothing. It's just strange to see you so… parental.' Senior was the one who chuckled this time.

'Trust me. It hasn't always been the case.' Penny barked at Tali who giggled, along with Tilly.

'Thank you for playing with Penny, Tali. It was nice to meet you.' Maggie held out her hand and shook Tali's, then waved at Tilly, who waved back. She stood up and turned to Senior. 'I assume you live in the area?'

'In DC.' Maggie reached into her bag and pulled out a business card. She handed it to Senior.

'Perhaps you should call me.' With that, Maggie York walked away from Anthony DiNozzo, history seemingly repeating itself.

**It's unclear how old Senior is, so I'm assuming he was born in the 40s, along with where he grew up and went to college. **

**Hope you enjoyed reading**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS**

Gibbs heard the front door open and close. He put his chisel down on the work bench and went upstairs to investigate. He found Senior, Tali and Tilly in the stroller.

'Gib!' cried Tali and she ran over to him. The 'S' at the end of his name had never appeared as Tali got older. Not that Gibbs minded. He kinda liked it. Gibbs smiled when he saw Tali and picked her up, balanced her on his hip and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

'You OK?' he asked. Tali nodded.

'We went to the park and I climbed all the way up to the top of the climbing frame and we met Papa's friend and she had a doggy called Penny.'

'Really?' asked Gibbs, laughing as he put Tali down on the floor.

'Yeah' chimed in Tilly. Gibbs went over and unbuckled Tilly from the stroller.

'Sorry about dropping by unannounced, Gibbs' began Senior. 'We were walking past the end of your block and Tali wanted to say hello.' Tony and Ziva had bought a house that was only a twenty-minute walk from Gibbs' house. A complete coincidence apparently.

'It's alright, Chief' said Gibbs as he carried Tilly over to a cupboard to get both girls a juice box. At one point in his life, Gibbs had no need to buy them. Since Leyla and Amira had moved to DC seven years ago however, and Team Gibbs members started having children of their own, the need for juice boxes had increased dramatically. 'Where are Tony and Ziva today?'

'Working. A wedding in Maryland, so I'm on childcare duty today.' The two men sat down at the table with the girls.

Since it first opened in March 2017, _Bean and Bug Photography _had continued to steadily grow, gaining more and more clients. They weren't earning what they would have if Tony and Ziva still both worked at NCIS, but neither Tony or Ziva would give it up. They had independence when it came to working hours. They had discovered a new job satisfaction, something that Tony didn't think he would find again, and most importantly, they were able to spend time with their girls without worrying about being in the line of fire.

'You OK Chief?' asked Gibbs. Senior looked distinctly distracted.

'Yeah, it's just we bumped into an old friend at the park today.'

'Is this the friend with the dog called Penny?'

'Yes' said Tali. She had heard the word dog. 'Penny is a dalmatian, like in the book and film.' _101 Dalmatians _was one of Tali's favourite books and films.

'Tali, why don't you draw a picture of Penny for Ima and Daddy?' suggested Gibbs. 'You know where the crayons and paper are.' Tali clambered off her dining chair and went over to the cupboard next to the fire place. She pulled out a box that contained paper and crayons. Tali took them over to the coffee table and got started on her picture for Ima and Daddy. Senior started to daydream again.

'Chief?' Gibbs voice knocked him out of it.

'What? Oh, yeah. Maggie has a dalmatian called Penny.'

'Old flame?'

'Very old. We went to high school together.' Gibbs chuckled slightly. He struggled to imagine an eighteen-year-old Anthony DiNozzo Senior.

'What happened?'

'Oh, the usual. Senior year. I stayed in Connecticut and went to Wesleyan. She went to Stanford in California. It was the 60s. No email or social media to help you stay in contact.' Gibbs nodded his understanding. He was roughly 17 years younger than Senior (Senior was born the early 1940s, Gibbs was born in the mid-1950s) but he knew the difficulties of long-distance relationships and the struggle to keep in contact. Shannon deciding to testify in 1990 sprung to mind.

'Maggie's exactly the same, Gibbs' said Senior. 'Same voice, same eyes, same smile.' Gibbs smiled, listening to Senior talk. 'She gave me her number.' Senior pulled a business card out of his trouser pocket and stared at it.

'Gib' piped up Tali. 'Can we have ice cream?' The two me at the dining table turned to look at the little girl sitting at the coffee table.

'I don't know. What did Ima say?' asked Gibbs, his right eyebrow raising. Tali gave a defeated sigh.

'That we can have ice cream after dinner.'

'Exactly, and not before.' Tilly finished her juice box and tried to put on the dining table. She couldn't reach it and the empty carton fell on the floor. Tilly started to whimper a little.

'You're getting a little fussy' said Gibs softly, stroking her hair.

'She's in need of a nap' said Senior. He checked his watch. 'Come on Tali, we have to go home.'

'But I haven't finished my picture yet.' She held it up to show Gibbs and Senior three-quarters of a dog, clearly drawn by a four-year-old.

'You can finish it at home, Bean, whilst Tilly has a nap' said Senior kindly. 'But we need to go home.'

'OK' said Tali. She put the crayons back in the box and the box back in the cupboard. She was a very tidy child, given that she was only four. Tali handed the picture to Senior to look after and went to say goodbye to Gibbs.

'Bye, bye Gib.'

'Bye, bye Tali.' Gibbs picker her up again, and gave her another kiss. 'I'll see you soon, alright.'

'Can we some more on the boat?' she asked.

'Maybe, we'll see OK.' Tali nodded in agreement. The three DiNozzo's were about to leave when Gibbs thought of something.

'Perhaps you should call her, your friend' he suggested to Senior.

'Gibbs' it's been sixty years.'

'Yeah, but she did give you her number.'

**Hope you enjoyed reading. **

**Tony and Ziva will be in the next chapter**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS**

The house was almost silent when Tony and Ziva got home from the wedding. Going into the family room, they found Senior sitting on the sofa, reading. Over the past four years, Senior had rediscovered his love for reading through Ziva. There had been many family dinners where Tony had been left out of the conversation because Ziva and Senior were gushing over a book that Tony had not read. Yet.

'Hey Dad' said Tony quietly. 'How come you're still up?

'Hi Junior, Ziva. I got stuck in my book.' He waved the book around, the latest John Grisham. 'How was the wedding?'

'It was really good, thanks' said Ziva. 'The hotel is going to add us to their list recommended photographers and a couple of people asked for business cards.'

'Well, that's good' said Senior. He loved hearing news about _Bean and Bug. _

'How were the girls?' asked Tony.

'Complete angels' said senior, smiling.

'Really?' asked Tony. 'How many times did Tali ask for ice cream before dinner?'

'Three, but I held out. They're upstairs, asleep.'

'Well done' added Ziva, laughing slightly. 'I am going to put the cameras downstairs and upload the photos.' Ziva made her way down to the studio space and office they had in the basement. Tony went into the kitchen and got a drink of water. On the counter was Tali's drawing of Penny the Dalmatian.

'Did Tali do this?' he asked, picking it up and showing it to Senior.

'Yes, she did. We went to the park today and bumped into an old friend. She has a dalmatian called Penny.' Tony smiled.

'Tali must have loved that.'

'Oh, yes.'

Over the past couple of years, Tali had become increasingly interested in drawing and/ or colouring. At first, it was fine and Tony, Ziva, Abby, Gibbs and Senior's walls became covered in Tali's artwork. However, it had quickly escalated to Tali drawing on highly important bank statements and their new cream sofa, in red felt tip pen. Swiftly, all felt tip pens were eradicated from the house and replaced with crayons, and all sensitive paperwork stored on shelves too high for Tali to reach. Tilly wasn't that interested in colouring yet. She had a habit of wanting to eat the crayons instead of draw with them. Tilly much preferred to dig in the garden or the sand pit. Tony was convinced she was a budding archaeologist.

'Where you the one who pulled out the photo albums?' Tony pointed over to the pile of albums, also on the counter. Senior nodded.

When Senior first moved to DC, he brought with him a life time of photos with him. However, his new place just didn't have the room to store everything, and Tony and Ziva had just bought a house. One Friday, Senior came over for dinner and saw his and Joy's wedding photo up on the wall, amongst many other family photos.

'Yeah I did, just after the girls went to bed.' He got up to fetch a photo and handed it to Tony. It was a prom photo. A teenage boy in a white tuxedo standing next to a teenage girl wearing a light blue dress. It was faded, giving the impression that it had been taken some time ago.

'Is this you?' asked Tony. Senior nodded.

'Prom 1960. Starry night theme.'

'Who's the girl?'

'Maggie York. Mags. I took her to homecoming, the winter formal, the spring fling and prom. We were glued to each other. Voted most likely to get married.' Tony laughed.

'What happened?'

'College. I went to Wesleyan. She went to Stanford.' Tony nodded his understanding. He had seen and experienced the difficulties of long-distance relationships.

'Your mother Junior, will always be the love of my life. I was the best version of myself when I was with her.'

'But?'

'Maggie York will always be my first love.' Tony smiled.

'What inspired to look at the photos?'

'We ran into Maggie when I took the girls to the park. She's the one with the dalmatian.' Tony gave an 'I understand now' look. 'I've known Maggie since the 6th grade. After we broke up, I never thought I would see her again.' Senior looked pensive, remembering the last time her saw Maggie York before they both left for college.

'Perhaps you should call her.'

'You sound like Gibbs' said Senior.

'Thank for that Dad.' Senior laughed. 'Why not meet and catch up on what you both did over the past sixty years. I've got back in contact with my old roommate from RMA.' It took a while for Senior to remember what RMA was.

'That military academy I sent you to?' Tony nodded.

'Yeah. There was a case a few years ago and we crossed paths with RMA. Travis still lives in Rhode Island. It's not like we meet up regularly, just email every now and then. It's nice to have friends who knew you back then. I still have a few friends from college too.' Senior thought about what Tony. Maybe it would be a good idea to catch up with an old friend. He had bumped into an old college friend about three years. Like Tony and his RMA roommate, they stayed in touch via email.

'I'm going to check on the girls and then get some sleep. I assume you're staying tonight?' Senior nodded.

'If that's alright.'

'Guest room's all yours. I'll see you in the morning.'

'Night Junior.' Senior went over to tidy the photo albums up. He went to put the photo of him and Maggie at prom back in its place. Something he stopped him. Since moving to DC three years, Senior had made new friends; Team Gibbs, people living in his building and working at Hope Rises homeless shelter three days a week.

But like Tony said, maybe it would be nice to have a friend who had known him since he was twelve.

**Hope you enjoyed reading. Thank you for the reviews**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. **

**I'm not American, so I research American high school/ college 'culture'. I'm also picturing Helen Mirren as Maggie, with an American accent**

Senior sat at the Adams House Bar, wearing one of his best suits, waiting for Maggie York to show. The day after talking to Tony and Gibbs, Senior had called Maggie the moment he got home, and suggested that they meet for drinks on Monday evening. He suggested The Adams House as it was familiar territory for him.

Every time the door opened Senior looked up to see if it was Maggie. She still hadn't arrived. Granted she had another three minutes, but Senior was nervous. The last time he felt this nervous was the first day he went on after Joy had passed away. It was a set up through a friend, and it was going alright, until Senior accidentally called the woman Joy. Senior apologised profusely but both parties knew that they would never see each other again.

The door opened again, and in walked Maggie York. She was wearing white dress with a black zig-zag pattern and a black bolero jacket. Her white hair framed her face perfectly. It was safe to say that Maggie York looked stunning.

'Hello Tony' she said to Senior, sounding a little nervous. Senior pulled out a chair for her and Maggie sat down. He ordered two glasses of wine and they sat in awkward silence.

'How are your granddaughters?' asked Maggie, after what felt like an eternity of silence. 'Tali and Tilly, right?' Senior grinned. Tali and Tilly were his favourite subject to talk about.

'They are wonderful, Mags. Tali is so inquisitive and sweet and confident. If she wants something, she will ask for it.'

'Like ice cream?' Senior laughed.

'Yes, like ice cream. Three times she asked on Saturday before dinner.'

'They sound like lovely girls.'

'They really are, Mags.' Senior began to tell a story of when Tilly started to dig up some plants in the small roof garden in his building. Elaine, one of the residents who had planted the garden, was furious, until she met Tilly. Tilly had enjoyed digging up the plants so much that she had covered herself head to toe in dirt. All Elaine could do was laugh.

'What about you?' asked Senior. 'Do you have children?' Maggie shook her head.

'No. I never married. I decided that marriage and children weren't really for me. I never felt like I was missing out on anything. My sister has four. Three boys and a girl.' Senior chuckled.

'The last time I saw Carol she was thirteen. How is she?'

'She's good. She and her husband, Richard, live in Arlington, which is why I moved to Virginia. My niece and nephews live in Virginia, Maryland and DC. I retired a few months ago and thought it would be nice to be near family.'

'I know the feeling' said Senior. 'I moved from New York to DC to be near Junior and his family.' They paused, each taking a sip of wine. 'You said the other day you've moved from Tokyo. What were you doing there?'

'Teaching.' Senior raised an eyebrow. 'I majored in Anthropology and minored in Japanese. I went out there after graduating for what was supposed to be a year and I ended up staying for fifty-five.' Senior chuckled. 'I got my masters and my doctorate at Tokyo University. I ended up teaching Anthropology.'

'So, you're technically a doctor?'

'Professor.'

'Wow, that's amazing Mags.'

'What about you? What have you done in the last sixty years?'

'I went into business, headhunting.' Maggie pulled an _I'm impressed _face. 'I did economics and history at college. I got married, had Junior. I retired three years ago.'

'What about your wife?' asked Maggie. Senior was not wearing a wedding ring.

'Junior's mother passed away when he was eight. Breast cancer.'

'Oh, Tony. I'm so sorry.'

'There were a few other marriages after. All ended in divorce.' Maggie reached forward and took Senior's hand. They stared at each other in silence, memories flooding their minds.

'Why did you give me your number, Mags?' Maggie took a moment to figure out what she wanted to say.

'I have been back in the states for three weeks. I have only left the house to walk Penny and the only people I have really seen have been Carol, her husband and two of my nephews. Of all the people I could have bumped into, in a park in Alexandria, you were the last person I expected to see.' Senior smiled. 'I don't really believe in fate, Tony, but I didn't want the opportunity of us seeing each other to pass us, even if it is only for one day.' Maggie stopped for a moment. 'Why did you call?'

Senior took a sip of wine.

'I was talking to Junior. He is still friends with people he went to school and college with. He pointed out it that it was nice to have friends who have known you since you were twelve.' They sat in silence again.

'Are we going to talk about the last conversation we had?' asked Maggie.

'The one in the park on Saturday?'

'No. The one on Labour Day in 1960. The one where we broke up.'

'Yeah, I remember.'

'Everyone thought we would stay together, that we would be the high school sweethearts that got married.'

'Yeah, I know, Mags.' Silence again. 'Sometimes I wondered if we went to college on the same side of the country, things would be different' Senior said sadly.

'Maybe, but you wanted to go to Wesleyan.'

'And Stanford was your dream school Mags.'

'Do you think it would have worked if we had done now, with social media and the internet?' Senior shrugged his shoulders.

'I don't Mags. I think it would have been difficult no matter what.'

Maggie smiled and within seconds Senior was back in October 1959, asking the prettiest girl in school to go to homecoming with him.

'You haven't changed, Mags. You are exactly the same.'

'Oh, I don't know about that.'

'No, you're still the prettiest girl in school.' Maggie smiled and laughed slightly.

Both Maggie and Senior looked happy as they finished their wine and ordered food.

**Hope you enjoyed reading. Thank you for the reviews**

**I tried to keep everything realistic**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS**

**December 2018**

Tilly ran through the family room and into the kitchen, giggling happily and wearing nothing but her diaper and some grey leggings. Ziva was in the kitchen, placing the snickerdoodle cookies she had made on a plate.

'Tilly' called Tony, running in after her, holding a dress. 'Tilly, come here.'

'No' said Tilly. She stuck out her tongue and wiggled her bottom at Tony. Ziva burst out laughing.

'Not helping' Tony retorted. He started to move forwards. Tilly noticed but unfortunately and managed to trap herself in a corner. 'Come here you little munchkin.' Tony picked up Tilly and threw her over his shoulder, Tilly laughing.

'Dada' she said, kicking her legs.

'I'm going to take Bug into the next room and get her into this dress' he said to Ziva. 'Everything OK here?'

'Everything is great' replied Ziva, smiling. Tony went into the family room, sat down on the sofa, and put Tilly down on her feet in front of him.

'Are you going to stand still long enough for me to help you put this on?' He held up the dress for her to see. Tilly nodded. 'OK then.' Tony helped his youngest daughter feed her arms and head into the light pink cord dress. It had a pocket on the front in the shape of a bunny and a little bunny tail attached on the back.

Today was Matilda Abigail DiNozzo's second birthday party. Her actual birthday had been a couple of days ago and they had a family tea to celebrate. For the party, Ziva had decided to go with a bunny theme and the entire downstairs of their house had been decorated. Guests would be arriving in the next thirty minutes and Ziva was putting the finishing touches to the buffet in the kitchen.

'Ok there you go' said Tony as he did the button on Tilly's dress. 'Are you going to wear these now?' He held up a bunny ears headband. Tilly shook her head. 'OK. Off you go and play.'

'Bean, Bean, Bean' cried Tilly as she ran over to the play corner and her sister. Tali was lying her stomach, filling in a colouring book. She was wearing a navy-blue dress with grey leggings and bunny tail like Tilly's. Ziva have put her hair into pigtails, just like Abby's pigtails.

'You ready for this? Tony asked Ziva as she came into the room. They had invited some of Tilly's friends from playgroup and Team Gibbs. There would eight to ten children under the age of five.

'Pretty much' she replied.

'Tilly, no' cried Tali. Tilly had scribbled on the page that Tali was working on. 'Stop it Tilly.'

'Tali' began Ziva. 'Tilly just wants to help.'

'But she's ruining my picture.'

'I know sweetie, but Tilly is only two. Go get some paper for her to do her own drawing, yes?' Tali considered it for a split second before getting up and fetching some paper for Tilly.

Ziva smiled at her daughters. She loved watching them interact with each other, as did Tony. There was a smaller age gap between Tali and Tilly, than Ziva and Tali senior, but the number of times that her daughters reminded Ziva of herself and her sister when they were girls, were numerous. Especially when Tali was frustrated with Tilly for ruining the game she was playing or the picture she was drawing. Ziva knew what it was like to have an annoying little sister.

Yet, Ziva also knew what it was like to lose a sister. Deep down, Ziva knew that there was no guarantee in life that her daughters would make it past sixteen. However, due to so many factors, Tali and Tilly's childhoods were already so different from Ziva and Tali's, and the options available to her daughters when they reached adulthood were so wide, and that was enough for Ziva.

The doorbell rang.

'That must be Dad and Maggie' said Tony. He started to move over to the front door. Tali sat up excited.

'Penny's here!' She got up off the floor and ran over to the door. Sure enough, Senior, Maggie and Penny the dalmatian were there.

'Penny' cried Tali and started to play with the dog.

'You know, at one point' began Senior. 'I was the one she wanted to see. My popularity had been usurped by a dog.' Everyone laughed. Senior hung up his and Maggie's coat whilst Tony and Maggie said hello. Tony and Maggie got on quite well, and of all of his father's girlfriends, fiancés and wives, who were not his mother, Maggie was Tony's favourite.

'Papa!' cried Tilly. She and Ziva had come to say hello.

'Hey birthday girl' said Maggie. Tilly laughed and wiggled in Ziva's arms.

'You want to say hello to Penny, yes?' asked Ziva.

'Yeah, Penny' answered Tilly. Ziva let her down and Tilly went over to Tali and Penny.

Ziva and Tony looked at each other and smiled. The two of them had been quietly discussing if getting a dog was a viable option for their family. They knew how much the girls loved dogs and Penny had been a useful measure to see if it would be possible. They had decided not to say anything to the girls, but that they were going seriously revisit the decision when Tali started Kindergarten, which was only nine months away.

Tony watched Maggie and Senior chat with the girls. He remembered Senior coming over for Friday night dinner a week after their conversation about Maggie. Senior was whistling as he walked into the house and did not stop smiling the entire time. He swore that it was the girls, but Tony knew otherwise. It had been a long time since he had seen his father this happy.

After one Friday night dinner in October, Senior asked if it was OK if he brought a friend with him next week. Ziva and Tony said it was fine, and the following Friday, Senior brought Maggie with him. Tali was a little disappointed when she realised Penny's owner was there but Penny wasn't. However, after checking with Tony and Ziva if it was alright, Penny came the following week. Everyone had to make sure that Tali didn't feed the dog her entire dinner, but from that Friday in October, Maggie and Penny became permanent fixtures at Friday night dinner.

Since their first conversation August, Maggie and Senior began to get to know each again. Maggie talked about her work and living in Tokyo; Senior told Maggie about his business and his many marriages. In the end, it became clear to both of them, that breaking up in 1960 might have been a good thing. They wanted different things out of their lives; Maggie wanted a career; Senior wanted a family unit of loving wife and child. Sixty years after high school, they had accomplished what they wanted for their lives individually and now they were free to be together. As a result, they spent very little time apart.

Back in Tony and Ziva's house, Tilly's party was in full swing, now that the guests had arrived; Tim, Delilah and the Mctwins, Jimmy, Breena and Tori, Ducky and Gibbs, as well as friends from playgroup. Abby had skyped from London the previous day. Ellie popped by to drop off a present for Tilly, and Clayton, Nick and Alex had also been invited but the three of them felt like they didn't know Tony and Ziva well enough to come, though they did send a card. Ziva, with the help of Callie, had organised some games, including the best bunny impersonation. Tori Palmer had won that prize. After a few other games, it was time for food. Everyone was enjoying the food that Ziva had made, in particular the snickerdoodle cookies.

When everyone appeared to finish eating, Ziva came over and sat next to Tilly. Tony walked in, carrying a bunny birthday cake and two candles on it.

'Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Tilly. Happy birthday to you' everyone sang. Tilly blew out the candles with some help from Tali and Ziva, before it was sliced up and handed out to everyone.

Senior stood next to Maggie as they ate birthday cake. Maggie kept staring at him, smiling.

'You OK?' asked Senior. Maggie nodded, but continued to stare at him. 'Mags, what is it? Do I have something on my face?'

'No.'

'Than what is it?'

'Move in with me.'

'What?'

'Move in with me. Sooner rather than later.'

'Mags…'

'No, Tony. We have been given a second chance here, and the past five months have been great. So, lets make the rest of this relationship, no matter how long it is, even better.' Senior smiled.

'OK. I'll move in.' Maggie smiled and kissed his cheek.

'I love you Tony.'

'I love you too Mags.'

**I hope you enjoyed reading this. **

**Thank you for all the reviews. It means the world**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS**

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**January 2019**

It was late January as Tony carried a box from the truck into the house. Ziva, Senior and Maggie followed behind him, each with their own boxes. Today Senior was moving into Maggie's house. During the past week Maggie, her sister Carol and her husband Richard helped Senior pack up his one-bed apartment he had moved in three years ago.

'Where does this one go?' asked Tony.

'This way' replied Senior and Tony followed him through the living room to a study/ library. The boxes they were carrying contained books. Tony and Senior started unpacking books. Tony reached into one and pulled out something that was definitely not a book.

It was a blue velvet ring box. Tony opened it and found it contained a diamond ring.

'Put that away' said Senior, hurriedly. 'I don't want Maggie to see it.'

'You going to propose?' asked Tony. Senior shook his head.

'No, I'm not.' He said so calmly that Tony was taken aback.

'Who are you, and what have you done with my father?' Senior laughed.

'Nothing.' He paused and become very serious. 'Every time I got engaged or remarried, I did it in the hopes of recreating what I had with you mother Junior. It only took almost forty years and reconnecting with my high school sweetheart to realise that I can't recreate it because your mother isn't here anymore.' Senior paused again and turned to look at Tony. 'Your mother was one of a kind Junior. There is no one like her, except you.' Tony smiled, but felt a little embarrassed. 'Mags doesn't want to get married. She has never wanted to get married. I don't want to lose her again and I've been married enough times in my life. So, no I am not going to propose.'

'Then what's with the ring? And why are you keeping it a secret?'

'It was Linda's. I don't really know what to do with it.' Tony gave his father an _I understand _look. 'I don't want Mags to find it and think I'm going to propose.'

'OK then' said Tony, placing a hand on Senior shoulder. 'As long as you are happy.'

'I am Junior. I really am.' The two men continued to unpack the boxes and place the books on the shelves. Thirty minutes later Tali came in.

'Ima says lunch is ready.'

'Good' said Tony, going over to Tali. 'I'm hungry.'

'Me too' said Tali. She skipped off in front of Tony and Senior.

After lunch, there were more boxes to unpack. Senior was unsure how he managed to accumulate so much stuff.

'I swear I didn't have this much stuff a week ago' he said, looking at the pile of empty boxes, and then at the pile of boxes still to be unpacked. Were they reproducing somehow? Tilly came running in from the other room. She and Tali had been drawing pictures since lunch. Since she had received her own set of crayons for her birthday, Tilly had become a prolific little artist.

'Granny' said Tilly, running over with her picture. Tony, Ziva, Senior and Maggie stopped and looked at Tilly.

'Tilly what did you call Maggie?' asked Senior.

'Granny' she said in a very matter-of-fact tone. Tilly pointed to Maggie. 'Papa.' She pointed to Senior. Everyone looked at Maggie who looked moved beyond words.

As far as two-year-old Tilly was concerned, everyone had a granny, like Emily at playgroup. She had a granny and a nonna. To Tilly, Maggie lived with Papa, therefore Maggie was granny.

'Well, Granny' said Senior to Maggie. 'What do you say to that?' Maggie picked up Tilly.

When they were discussing whether to get back together, Senior warned Maggie that he came with a son, a daughter-in-law and two granddaughters, and that they were the most important things to him. He understood that Maggie had not wanted a family. She had never had that urge, and Senior respected that.

But whilst Maggie wasn't a mother, she loved being an aunt and great aunt, and she and Senior had committed to be with each other for the rest of their lives. So what if Tilly didn't really understand that Maggie wasn't really her granny. The whole of Senior's family had accepted her, and vice versa with her family accepting Senior.

Maggie brushed Tilly's hair out of her face and Tilly gave Maggie a big smile

'Granny' Tilly said again and she wrapped her arms around Maggie's neck.

'I guess I'm granny' said Maggie, hugging Tilly back.

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**That's a wrap for this story folks. I wanted to give Senior a 'happy ending'. I have a few more ideas I want to write but again, no promises.  
**

**Hope you enjoyed reading. Thank you for the reviews**


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